Dangerous Marburg virus: WHO warns of new epidemic

Rwanda is currently battling an outbreak of the Marburg virus, but it may have already reached Europe, the World Health Organization said.

"WHO assesses the risk of this outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level," the statement reads.

Two passengers suspected of carrying the lethal and highly contagious Marburg virus set off alarm at Hamburg’s main train station in Germany on October 2. 

Emergency crews in full protective gear boarded a train from Frankfurt after a 26-year-old medical student and his girlfriend developed flu-like symptoms on the train. Passengers were evacuated and police closed two tracks at the station for several hours before reopening them.

According to the Hamburg Fire Department, one of the two suspected Marburg victims also suffered from mild vomiting.

The Bild reported that the student had arrived by plane directly from Rwanda, where he’d been in contact with a patient who was later diagnosed as infected with Marburg. 

Marburg virus: what is it?

Rwanda is currently experiencing an outbreak of the deadly virus. According to the country’s health ministry, eight people have died from the virus since last Sunday, while 26 cases have been confirmed.

The Marburg virus causes fever with symptoms including convulsions, bloody vomiting and diarrhea, and has a mortality rate of up to 88%, according to the WHO. People become infected through contact with the bodily fluids of infected victims.